Music and Lyrics Interactions and their Influence on Recognition of Sung Words: An Investigation of Word Frequency, Rhyme, Metric Stress, Vocal Timbre, Melisma, and Repetition Priming

This study investigated several factors presumed to influence the intelligibility of song lyrics. Twenty-seven participants listened to recordings of musical passages sung in English; each passage consisted of a brief musical phrase sung by a solo voice. Six vocalists produced the corpus of sung phrases. Eight hypotheses derived from common phonological and prosodic principles were tested. Intelligibility of lyrics was degraded: (i) when archaic language was used; (ii) when words were set in melismatic rather than syllabic contexts; (iii) when the musical rhythm did not match the prosodic speech rhythm; and (iv) when successive target words rhymed. Intelligibility of lyrics was facilitated: (i) when words contained diphthongs rather than monophthongs; (ii) when a word from an immediately previous passage reappeared; (iii) when a syllabic setting of a word was preceded by a melismatic setting of the same word. No difference in word intelligibility was observed between music theater singers and opera singers.</jats:p

Mitigation of ED Patient Boarding: Transferring Admissions from the Center City ED to Methodist

Objectives: Objectively analyze transferred patient transfers cases as far as LOS (length of stay), final diagnosis, and transfer failure. Assess patient satisfaction with the transfer process as means to identify areas for improvement as well as potential patient safety issues

Live Well, Eat Well, Be Active With Diabetes Curriculum Improves Type 2 Diabetes Management

Type 2 diabetes is a complex disease with several modifiable lifestyle factors. The Extension ‘Live well, Eat well, be Active with Diabetes’ curriculum provides four 90-minute lessons teaching individuals to live well, eat well, and be active with diabetes. Fourteen Extension educators implemented and evaluated the curriculum with 107 participants. Participants reported the program helped them feel better able to take care of their health. We observed significant differences in participants’ retrospective pre and post ‘Live well,’ ‘Eat well’ and ‘be Active’ total scores. Extension has a unique opportunity to educate individuals so they may better manage their diabetes

Investigation of NRXN1 deletions: Clinical and molecular characterization

Deletions at 2p16.3 involving exons of NRXN1 are associated with susceptibility for autism and schizophrenia, and similar deletions have been identified in individuals with developmental delay and dysmorphic features. We have identified 34 probands with exonic NRXN1 deletions following referral for clinical microarray‐based comparative genomic hybridization. To more firmly establish the full phenotypic spectrum associated with exonic NRXN1 deletions, we report the clinical features of 27 individuals with NRXN1 deletions, who represent 23 of these 34 families. The frequency of exonic NRXN1 deletions among our postnatally diagnosed patients (0.11%) is significantly higher than the frequency among reported controls (0.02%; P  = 6.08 × 10 −7 ), supporting a role for these deletions in the development of abnormal phenotypes. Generally, most individuals with NRXN1 exonic deletions have developmental delay (particularly speech), abnormal behaviors, and mild dysmorphic features. In our cohort, autism spectrum disorders were diagnosed in 43% (10/23), and 16% (4/25) had epilepsy. The presence of NRXN1 deletions in normal parents and siblings suggests reduced penetrance and/or variable expressivity, which may be influenced by genetic, environmental, and/or stochastic factors. The pathogenicity of these deletions may also be affected by the location of the deletion within the gene. Counseling should appropriately represent this spectrum of possibilities when discussing recurrence risks or expectations for a child found to have a deletion in NRXN1 . © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/97220/1/35780_ftp.pd

Light Curves and Colors of the Ejecta from Dimorphos after the DART Impact

On 26 September 2022 the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft impacted Dimorphos, a satellite of the asteroid 65803 Didymos. Because it is a binary system, it is possible to determine how much the orbit of the satellite changed, as part of a test of what is necessary to deflect an asteroid that might threaten Earth with an impact. In nominal cases, pre-impact predictions of the orbital period reduction ranged from ~8.8 - 17.2 minutes. Here we report optical observations of Dimorphos before, during and after the impact, from a network of citizen science telescopes across the world. We find a maximum brightening of 2.29 $\pm$ 0.14 mag upon impact. Didymos fades back to its pre-impact brightness over the course of 23.7 $\pm$ 0.7 days. We estimate lower limits on the mass contained in the ejecta, which was 0.3 - 0.5% Dimorphos' mass depending on the dust size. We also observe a reddening of the ejecta upon impact.Comment: Accepted by Natur

Big Data: Managing the Future\u27s Agriculture and Natural Resource Systems

Big Data: Managing the Future\u27s Agriculture and Natural Resource Systems Big data is the incredible flow of information that surrounds each of us, every day. Big data tools identify patterns and habits, not only in research, but in manufacturing, logistics–even ordering items online

Operationalizing Appropriate Sepsis Definitions in Children Worldwide: Considerations for the Pediatric Sepsis Definition Taskforce

Sepsis is a leading cause of global mortality in children, yet definitions for pediatric sepsis are outdated and lack global applicability and validity. In adults, the Sepsis-3 Definition Taskforce queried databases from high-income countries to develop and validate the criteria. The merit of this definition has been widely acknowledged; however, important considerations about less-resourced and more diverse settings pose challenges to its use globally. To improve applicability and relevance globally, the Pediatric Sepsis Definition Taskforce sought to develop a conceptual framework and rationale of the critical aspects and context-specific factors that must be considered for the optimal operationalization of future pediatric sepsis definitions. It is important to address challenges in developing a set of pediatric sepsis criteria which capture manifestations of illnesses with vastly different etiologies and underlying mechanisms. Ideal criteria need to be unambiguous, and capable of adapting to the different contexts in which children with suspected infections are present around the globe. Additionally, criteria need to facilitate early recognition and timely escalation of treatment to prevent progression and limit life-threatening organ dysfunction. To address these challenges, locally adaptable solutions are required, which permit individualized care based on available resources and the pretest probability of sepsis. This should facilitate affordable diagnostics which support risk stratification and prediction of likely treatment responses, and solutions for locally relevant outcome measures. For this purpose, global collaborative databases need to be established, using minimum variable datasets from routinely collected data. In summary, a "Think globally, act locally" approach is required

Pacific Portraits: The People Behind the Scenes at Pacific University (Volume One)

When a dormitory toilet is clogged, who’s the guy charged with fixing it? Who assures that benefits and work-study monies are paid and accounted for on time? And who is tasked with ensuring Luau goes off without a hitch or that students from Saudi Arabia know how to navigate the cultural idiosyncrasies of an American university? Meet the people who work behind the scenes at Pacific University—the community of staff and faculty—as captured by Pacific’s own creative writing and photography students. Their jobs and lives are varied, but their dedication to ensuring a dynamic educational experience in all its varieties is common between them. This book strives to capture and share their stories through the creative efforts of the students their work serves.https://commons.pacificu.edu/beetree/1001/thumbnail.jp

Self-renewing resident arterial macrophages arise from embryonic CX3CR1+ precursors and circulating monocytes immediately after birth

Resident macrophages densely populate the normal arterial wall, yet their origins and the mechanisms that sustain them are poorly understood. Here we use gene-expression profiling to show that arterial macrophages constitute a distinct population among macrophages. Using multiple fate-mapping approaches, we show that arterial macrophages arise embryonically from CX3CR1+ precursors and postnatally from bone marrow–derived monocytes that colonize the tissue immediately after birth. In adulthood, proliferation (rather than monocyte recruitment) sustains arterial macrophages in the steady state and after severe depletion following sepsis. After infection, arterial macrophages return rapidly to functional homeostasis. Finally, survival of resident arterial macrophages depends on a CX3CR1-CX3CL1 axis within the vascular niche

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead